Benedict to honor icon, meet Castro in Cuba

Pope Benedict XVI walks by the Virgen of the Chariry of Cobre as he arrives to celebrate a Mass at Revolution Square where giving a mass in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, Monday, March 26, 2012. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
— AP

Pope Benedict XVI walks by the Virgen of the Chariry of Cobre as he arrives to celebrate a Mass at Revolution Square where giving a mass in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, Monday, March 26, 2012. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
/ AP

In this picture made available Tuesday, March 27, 2012, by the Vatican newspaper Osservatore Romano, Pope Benedict XVI celebrates a mass at Revolution Square in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, Monday, March 26, 2012 (AP Photo/Osservatore Romano)— AP

In this picture made available Tuesday, March 27, 2012, by the Vatican newspaper Osservatore Romano, Pope Benedict XVI celebrates a mass at Revolution Square in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, Monday, March 26, 2012 (AP Photo/Osservatore Romano)
/ AP

A man is taken away by security as he shouts against the Cuban government shortly after Pope Benedict XVI arrived at Revolution Square to conduct a Mass in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, Monday, March 26, 2012. Pope Benedict XVI is in Cuba for a three-day visit. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)— AP

A man is taken away by security as he shouts against the Cuban government shortly after Pope Benedict XVI arrived at Revolution Square to conduct a Mass in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, Monday, March 26, 2012. Pope Benedict XVI is in Cuba for a three-day visit. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
/ AP

A man is taken away by security as he shouts "down with the revolution, down with the dictatorship" shortly after Pope Benedict XVI arrived at Revolution Square to conduct a Mass in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, Monday, March 26, 2012. Pope Benedict XVI is in Cuba for a three-day visit. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)— AP

A man is taken away by security as he shouts "down with the revolution, down with the dictatorship" shortly after Pope Benedict XVI arrived at Revolution Square to conduct a Mass in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, Monday, March 26, 2012. Pope Benedict XVI is in Cuba for a three-day visit. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
/ AP

FILE - In this Nov. 29, 2010 file photo, a woman holds a crucifix next to Cuba's patron, the Virgin of Charity of Cobre, during a year long pilgrimage with the statue to commemorate the 400th anniversary of her appearance in Cuban waters, in Veguitas, Cuba. (AP Photo/Ismael Francisco, Prensa Latina, File)— AP

FILE - In this Nov. 29, 2010 file photo, a woman holds a crucifix next to Cuba's patron, the Virgin of Charity of Cobre, during a year long pilgrimage with the statue to commemorate the 400th anniversary of her appearance in Cuban waters, in Veguitas, Cuba. (AP Photo/Ismael Francisco, Prensa Latina, File)
/ AP

SANTIAGO, Cuba 
The power of a diminutive icon drew the leader of the world's Roman Catholics to a bucolic hillside town in eastern Cuba on Tuesday for a moment of prayer and reflection, almost alone, amid days of vast ceremonies and meetings with heads of state.

Pope Benedict XVI spent the night in a newly built home near the small sanctuary that shelters the Virgin of Charity, a wooden statue just over a foot (35 centimeters) tall that many consider the symbolic mother of all Cubans, Catholic and non-Catholic alike.

The stop in the mining town of El Cobre was a papal reminder of Roman Catholicism's still-strong role in the culture of a nation where the church is struggling to hold onto its followers.

While most Cubans are nominally Catholic, fewer than 10 percent practice the faith. Bringing more Cubans back to the pews is a key aim of Benedict's trip to the Caribbean island.

Under a light rain late Monday, Benedict emphasized family and faith during a Mass celebrated before Raul Castro and tens of thousands of people in Santiago, the metropolis a few miles from El Cobre.

"I appeal to you to reinvigorate your faith ... that you may strive to build a renewed and open society, a better society, one more worthy of humanity," he said.

After visiting the shrine, Benedict planned to fly to Havana later to meet with President Raul Castro and possibly Fidel Castro, though that had not been confirmed. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who is in Havana undergoing radiation therapy for cancer, did not ask for an audience but would be welcome to attend Mass in the capital's Revolution Square on Wednesday, a Vatican spokesman said.

Aides held a white umbrella over the pontiff as worshippers approached to take communion, and Castro climbed the stairs to congratulate the pope when the Mass ended.

The 84-year-old pontiff's voice sounded tired and he seemed exhausted after a vigorous four days of travel. The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, acknowledged Benedict's fatigue but said his health was fine.

Just before the ceremony began, a man tried to enter an area reserved for foreign journalists, shouting anti-government slogans such as "Down with the Revolution! Down with the dictatorship!" He was led away by security agents. It was not clear who he was or what happened to him. The government did not comment.

Benedict's trip to Cuba comes 14 years after Pope John Paul II's historic tour, when the Polish pontiff who helped bring down communism in his homeland admonished Fidel Castro to free prisoners of conscience, end abortion and let the Roman Catholic Church take its place in society.

In an arrival speech Monday, Benedict gently pressed the longtime communist leaders to push through the reforms desired by their people, while also criticizing the excesses of capitalism. His words were subtle and appeared to take into account the liberalizing reforms that Raul Castro has enacted since taking over from his older brother in 2006, as well as the greater role the Catholic Church has played in Cuban affairs, most recently in negotiating the release of dozens of political prisoners.